REGIONAL WORKSHOP FOR SHARING EXPERIENCES AMONG AFRICAN COUNTRIES

23–25 JUNE 2014, BAMAKO, MALI

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COMMUNICATION

FROM

MR BA IBRAHIMA

GENERAL MANAGER

IVORY COAST NATIONAL STATISTICAL INSTITUTE

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THEME:

AN ACCOUNT OF THE IVORY COAST-AFRISTAT COLLABORATION

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BAMAKO, 23-25 JUNE 2014

OUTLINE

  1. Ivory Coast
  1. Ways and Meansof AFRISTAT Involvement in Ivory Coast
  1. Focus on Social Statistics Progress (field of production, publication scheduling, etc.)
  1. Main Noteworthy Aspects in the AFRISTAT Collaboration
  1. Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast is West African country bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the south, Liberia and Guinea on the west, Mali and Burkina Faso on the north and Ghana on the east.

Its population, estimated at 23,202,000 inhabitants (2011 estimate from the National Statistics Institute (NSI) is spread over a part of its 322,462 km² of land area.Its administrative capital is Yamoussoukro, while Abidjan remains its economic capital.

The leading economic power of the West African Economic and Monetary Union, whose common currency for Member States is the African Financial Community Franc (FCFA), Ivory Coast is positioned in second place, after Nigeria, in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).It is one of the world’s main exporters of cocoa and cashews and has other economic potential.

Turning the page of the politico-military crisis of the 2000s and the post-electoral crisis of 2011, Ivory Coast has firmly dedicated itself to a process of restoring the functions of its republican institutions; today that is accomplished and it is orienting its economic priorities to become an emerging country by 2020. The rewritten political governance serves as an indispensable base for all initiatives aimed at development.

Its strongly growing economy grew by around 9% in 2013 (Ministry of Economy and Finance), undoubtedly a catch-up effect;but certainly a strong trend if the current policies are consolidated. Effectively, investments in terms of GDP are expected to be 17.8% in 2013 compared to 13.7% in 2012 and public investments should increase from 4.9% in 2012 to 7.5% in 2013. These investments are spread over growth drivers (agriculture, infrastructure and transport, industry, health, education and environment).In addition, the government has just organised an international forum “Invest in Ivory Coast – ICI 2014" to mobilise private investment.

In social areas, challenges remain.Poverty levels are not really known, due to a lack of surveys, but were already high during the 2008 survey and everything indicates that they and their accompanying inequalities have certainly not improved during the crisis. Youth employment remains a major challenge and must be treated in an unorthodox way at the macro, meso and micro levels (with decentralisation), since leveraging only at the macro level has not produced the desired results.Certain social indicators are encouraging (the gross rate of schooling was 89.3% during the 2011/2012 school year compared to 83.8% in 2010/2011 and 76.2% in 2008/2009) but for others more effort is needed.But certain uniting and inclusive policies must support those already implemented to boost the economy and create employment.

Environmental questions also occupy an important place innational development plan (PND) strategies.

  1. The NSI: Overview

Since its creation in 1946 the Ivory Coast Statistical Service has seen four distinct periods of development:from 1946 to 1965, from 1966 to 1990, from 1991 to 1996 and from December 1996 to today.

  • From 1946 to 1965 the Statistical Service was the only body to perform statistical surveys in the country for the government or the para-governmental sector.This was possible only because of the presence of a sufficient number of expatriate statistician managers, which allowed the NSI to perform all surveys in Ivory Coast from 1946 to 1963 as well as certain surveys in Sudan (Mali) and Niger.
  • From 1966 to 1990 the Statistical Directorate was broken up, especially from 1966 to 1977 due to:

-the creation of new directorates and especially the Central Office of Data Processing (OCM), the Studies and Development Directorate (DED) in the Plan Ministry, to which the National Accounting service, initially the Statistical Directorate, was attached;

-transfer of the Agricultural Statistical Service to the Ministry of Agriculture.

  • From 1991 to November 1996:from 1991, the Statistical and National Accounting Directorate was created asan Industrial and Commercial Public Establishment (EPIC) called the "National Statistical Institute (NSI)”.This Institute joins together the Statistical and National Accounting Directorate and the Autonomous Service of the Financial Data Bank (BDF).
  • In December 1966, the NSI was created as a State company.

The objective of this new transformation of NSI’s status is to give it means, especially human resourcesthrough incentives in employee remuneration, to make it competitive with other national institutions.

MISSIONS

A structure attached to the Ministry of State and the Ministry of Planning and Development, the NSI is the official Ivory Coast statistical body for the following missions:

  1. Preparation of the National Accounts and the Central Balance Sheet Office;
  2. Performance of annual and multi-year censuses and survey programmes;
  3. National consistency,centralisation, and then the synthesis and distribution of all statistical, economic and demographic datacollected by para-governmental bodies;
  4. Development of statistical activities at the regional level;
  5. The liaison with statistical institutions at the national and international level, as well as with international bodies;
  6. Performance of socio-economic studies upon request, in the country and abroad.

MEANS

In 2014, the NSI has 221 agents including 129 managers, from various professions.

NSI ORGANISATION

The NSI is comprised of:

-a General Manager;

-a General Secretariat;

-a Special Counsel;

-an Autonomous Service of Internal Audit and Oversight (SAAIC);

-eight (8) Departments;

-sixteen (16) Divisions;

-ten (10) Regional Directorates.

  1. Ways and Means of AFRISTAT Involvement in Ivory Coast

AFRISTATis involved on three levels:

  • Technical Support:

Since AFRISTAT’sfounding, its experts have performed several technical support missions in the following Ivory Coast areas:

-national accounting generally;

-social statistics;

-engineering and methodology;

-national accounts preparation, analysis and publication;

-household spending survey methodology and preparation;

-prices;

-industrial production index production and publication;

-business statistics;

-etc.

  • Capability Strengthening through AFRISTAT Workshops/Seminars/Technical Meetings:

-Data processing training;

-Computer specialist training for Phoenix-UEMOA support and maintenance;

-Price expert capability strengtheningin using the IHPC (PHOENIX-UEMOA)production application;

-Data collection training;

-International seminar on the Informal Sector in Africa;measurement tools, analyses and integration of economic and social policies;

-Workshop data base implementation and management and short term publications;

-Data source analysis and processing workshop;

-PCI-Afrique 2011 cycle regional workshop;

-In-depth analysis of household spending survey data;

-Data processing work from the household spending complementary survey in the main urban areas, arenewedIHPC project;

-A training workshop for fast short-term publication production techniques;

-Workshop to approve manuals for preparing price indexes of industrial production and services and of construction costs;

-Workshop on data processing and in-depth analysis from the household spending complementary survey in the main urban areas, a renewed IHPC project;

-West African AFRISTATMember State short-term economics and forecasts seminar;

-Business statistics seminars;

-Results Based Management training for NSI managers;

-Etc.

  • Financial Support:

-Direct AFRISTAT financial support to cover manager workshop/seminar attendance costs;

-Financial and accounting support through projects financed by the BAD, WAEMU ((PCI-Afrique, Convention WAEMU/AFRISTAT, PMRC_BAD, etc.)

  1. Focus on Social Statistic Progress (field of production, publication scheduling, etc.)

Concerning social statistics, we produce the Directory of Demographic and Social Statistics with routine data from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of National Education and EDS survey data.

Social statistics also include the environment and civil status data.We have the civil status information in the country's regional statistics, prepared in collaboration with the regional directors.

Demographic and social statistics directories contain calculations of the education and health ratios.The NSI has the denominators and numerators the concerned ministry planning and statistical directorates have provided.

Publishing has been difficult since 2011 because of the Emergency Plan for Production of Basic Statistics (PU-PSB) which is underway and which must providepublication data.The civil status statistics for the city of Abidjan and regional capitals have been published through2010 with AFRISTAT’s support in the programmefor strengthening capabilities.Please remember that the publication area covers health, education, civil status and the environment, but this publication is not regular.

  1. Main Noteworthy Aspects in the AFRISTAT Collaboration

-National accounting modernisation with introduction of the ERETES module;

-Support for IHPC reform implementation;

-Support implementing the harmonised industrial production index;

-Support for the draft law on statistics.

Communication from Mr Ba Ibrahima, DG INS Ivory Coast/AFRISTAT/PARIS21(Bamako,June 2014)

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